PROLOGUE
Mike is a young man who got caught up with the wrong people. Still in highschool, seventeen years old with scholarship opportunities to go to college. He is a great athlete and has a "B" average. Everything seemed to be going right for him when his mom died in a car accident. A junkie wanted out of the world and happened to take her with him. Mike's dad, a police officer, had died in a schootout when he was just a little boy. Mike's only family left was his nine year old brother named James. Knowing that James needed taken care of was the only thing that kept him from taking his life the night of his mother's accident. Mike needed money, but being a black orphan, without a highschool diploma, it was hard to get a job, so he fell back on selling drugs for a local dealer. He got kept getting drawn deeper and deeper into the black market, not only selling drugs now, but stolen weapons. Mike did it so he could keep James in school so he didn't go down the same road. Mike's best friend Chase was trying to get him out.
Chase was a good kid, and had virtually all his classes with mike. He had a big family with alot of siblings and money was tight. Chase told his parents that he was old enough to fend for himself and got himself off of there hands. Luckily Chase had a good job and a good girlfriend and in no time had his own apartment. Chase knew that Mike was in a bad way and had been offering for sometime for Mike and his brother to come stay at his house, but Mike being proud had kept refusing. One night Chase had just walked his girlfriend layla home and was on his way back, when he found Mike beaten and bloody on the ground. He carried Mike back to his apartment and called Kathy, Mike's girlfriend, and had her brink James over to his place.
Chapter 1: Awake11
I opened my eyes to notice that i was at Chase's apartment. James was sleeping in the corner and heard my moving and rushed over to see if i was okay.2
2
"Chase and Kathy have been up all night taking care of you" he said. I sighed. In pain, I staggered to my feet and slowly made my way to the living room. Chase was already waiting to take me to the hospital.3
3
On the way to the hospital Chase asked me what happened. I was hesitant, but seeing the bags under his eyes and how he could barely stay awake, I knew it was because of me and he deserved to know.4
4
"James put your headphones on" I said, and I heard the faint sounds of his favorite band flowing into those innocent ears. 5
5
I turned back to Chase. "Last night Chase," I took a deep breath. "I was doing a drug run, but not just any drug run, this was the biggest I'd ever had to do. It was simple though, I just had to take the package to the peer and load into the abandoned boat beneath the dock, but something went wrong." I could feel Chase's frustration in the air, but was worse, I could sense his disappointment.6
6
"What happened? How'd you fuck up this time?" He said, knowing that it hurt me to hear him say that, but i know that i deserved it.7
7
"Lenny, my dealer, had mapped out my route and everything, but i decided to take on a little shortcut through an alley, 'cause me and Kathy had a date. As i got to the end of the alley, i felt something hit me in the back of the head, i dropped the package and turned around. 'What the fu-!?' There behind me was about three thugs, one of them holding the rest of the Ameretta bottle that was smashed over my head. I tried to run but another stepped out from the end of the alley. I knew that i was trapped but i surprised them by slammed one guys head to the wall, I knew that a beating from three guys is better than four. The last thing i remember was being dumped in the curb, which is where you must have found me." Just as he finished, they pulled into the emergency room entrance. And Mike saw the one person who could end his life...
8
8
Chapter 29
9
"Shit!!!" Mike yelled as he ducked down in his seat. "What!? What!? I yelled surprised. "Keep driving!" Mike said. "That big guy in the overcoat is Lenny!" "Who?" I asked, completely dumbfounded. "The druglord!, the guy who hired me for that package!" "Shits right!" I said, and not wanting to get James involved, we drove around for another forty-five minutes. "Is he gone!?" Mike asked. "Yea, I don't see him, just put your hood up" I told him.10
10
"What's the damage, Doc?" I asked. "Well Mr..." "Please call me Chase" I assured him. He continued "Well Chase, you should've brought him in here as soon as you found him, but he has 2 broken ribs, a fractured collar bone and a fractured cheekbone. Oh!, and a concussion from the bottle he was hit with, along with other minor cuts and bruises. So what happened?" The doctor asked, looking at Mike.11
11
I could see Mike getting worried so I quickly said, "He was jumped on the way home from putting flowers on his mother's grave" knowing that the doctor would not press that issue any further. 12
12
As we got home, I put the brakes on, just a little to hard and Mike punched me in pain as James and I cracked up laughing.13
13
"You dumba-" he started to yell, but i cut him off "children in the car MIke, what are you trying to teach your little brother? How to be a thug? We now know what that'll get you."14
14
As we were going into the apartment building, Kathy ran out and gave MIke a big old bear hug, causing him to cry out, and I heard James trying to keep from laughing as he went inside.15
15
"Are you okay!?" she asked. "Yea... no." he said. "You poor thing!, let me help you inside" Kathy said, and i could tell by Mike's smile that he was planning on getting the most out of this.16
16
I gave Mike a couple of pain pills and he was out like a light, leaving me responsible for James' dinner. James decided on pizza and while it was being delivered, I invited Layla over to join us. While we were waiting, James asked me "Chase, can you show me some magic tricks?" I got eye level with him and said "Buddy, tricks are what whores do, I perform illusions (Seinfeld), but sure I'll show you some." 17
17
I gave little James my best show that night, but my best illusion was making money disappear from Mike's wallet to pay for the pizza.18
Chapter 31818
That night, Mike woke up around Eleven p.m. I watched him wobble into the living room, he still looked a bit dizzy. Kathy and James had fallen asleep after making him get well cards and i was holding Layla on the couch watching a movie, she was half asleep. I carefully got up and then layed her down on the pillow and covered her up with a blanket. Then i helped Mike into the ktichen and heated up some pizza, and we sat in the dark waiting for Mike to explain himself.19
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Chapter 420
20
"Okay Chase" I said between mouthfulls of pizza, "heres whats goin on. It all started back when my Moms died. I kept missing work and eventually got fired."21
21
Chase cut me off, "Who the hell gets fired from garbage duty at McDonalds? I'm sorry, go on" he said, doing a poor job of holding back his laughter.22
22
"Anyways," I said "Well I had bills to pay and needed money to take care of James, and I needed it fast."23
23
"Why didn't you get a job?" Chase asked.24
24
"Well is pretty damn hard for a black orphan without a highschool diploma to get a job!" I snapped at him, he just gave me a sullen look. I continued, "I came across this Drug Dealer Lenny, and it was 'sposed to be a one time deal to pay James' tuition, but he told me that I done good and I decided that a few more wouldn't hurt. Eventually it went from drugs but to guns and other black market items and it all just eventually snowballed. And then the night you found me..." I trailed off.25
25
"Yea," Chase said "It was the biggest package you've ever done, but how much"26
26
"Uhh, not that big I guess..." I said27
27
"How Much!" he demanded.28
28
" Fifty thousand dollars!" I said "Fifty fucking G's!"29
29
"Well thats a whole lot of money, why would you take a job that big?" Chase asked.30
30
"Well I thought it would be easy, how was i supposed to know that i was gonna be jumped?" I tried to defend myself, "Besides, its not as bad as you think, I already have 35 grand from my Mom's life insurance, so we only need fifteen thousand more.31
31
"I'm tired as hell," Chase said, "let's just go to bed, get some rest Mike."
A contest entry
- Free points & trophies! Get 'em while they're hot! by Mallig.
425 points, ended April 19, 2008, 17 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Any criticism or any suggestions are helpfull
Comments
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soooo kewl i loved it and keep up da good work and follow ur dreams dnt stop writing poems keep up da work
love dd
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An interesting beginning you have here! The switching perspectives is unusual, I'm glad you used the different colors, that really helped to keep things straight. The characters are likeable. Some nice humorous moments, "I could tell by Mike's smile that he was planning on getting the most out of this" and "tricks are what whores do, I perform illusions." A couple of typos,
brink James over --> bring
package to the peer --> pier
heres whats goin --> here's what's goin'
mouthfulls --> mouthfuls
highschool --> high school
some of the "i"'s are lowercase
I do hope you keep going with this story, there's a lot of potential here for action, drama, and humor. I like the title, it really implies that the characters will undergo struggles, journeys, and possible transformations. Thanks for this entry!
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